The present invention relates in general to documentation cartridges and in particular to a holder for supporting a documentation cartridge in a reversed position which permits documents fastened together by the cartridge to be easily read.
Cartridges which fasten together sheets of documents along one edge and support them in a hanging position are well known in the art. An example of such a device is illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,360, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application. Cartridges of this type frequently have a channel-form configuration and document sheets are inserted into the open portion of the channel. The sheets are held in place by means of removable posts which engage the side walls of the channel as well as predetermined holes spaced along one edge of the sheets.
In its normal upright position, the document-carrying cartridge may be supported by a pair of support hooks which extend from opposite ends of the channel and which engage transversely extending rods or the like. If the documents carried by the cartridge are heavy, the cartridge, supported by the aforesaid hooks which are positioned at opposite cartridge ends, may sag in the center unless the back of the channel is strengthened. In the cartridge disclosed in the aforesaid patent, this is accomplished by a pair of surfaces which converge above the channel proper and meet in a common spine which extends substantially the full length of the channel. The sloping surfaces thus form a garret space above the closed portion of the channel, which is integral with the channel and which serves to strengthen the latter against bending. Cartridges such as those disclosed in the aforesaid patent may be molded or otherwise made in the channel-form described, e.g. as an integral structure with parallel side walls and a mutually perpendicular back wall running the full length of the channel and having a pair of transverse end walls which terminate the channel at opposite ends. Further, the converging walls which rise above the closed back portion of the channel and which are terminated at opposite ends by a pair of slanted end walls, are part of the integral structure which additionall, includes the aforesaid hooks. The hooks preferably extend the full width of the channel and each forms a transverse slot which is open in the same direction as the channel itself.
In an alternative embodiment, the above-described cartridge is molded as identical halves which are pivotably joined together along the aforesaid spine. In the latter case, due to the nature of the molding process, the spine may carry a thin ridgelet superimposed thereon. As distinguished from the type of cartridge in which the channel is molded as an integral structure, a cartridge with pivotable halves is capable of opening so as to provide easier and often quicker access to the desired documents.
While cartridges of the type described readily permit selected document sheets to be removed or replaced, such is not usually necessary when it is only desired to read the cartridge-fastened documents in the manner of a book. To do so, the cartridge is removed from the rods engaged by the hooks and its position is reversed. Thus, the sheets are positioned above the cartridge and can be opened and read. However, the presence of the narrow spine makes the position of the cartridge unstable so that it tends to tip to one or the other side. In the sideways position of the cartridge, reading of the sheets becomes far more difficult, particularly those pages which face down, i.e. away from the reader. Additionally, there is a greater tendency for the sheets to return to their closed position, which further increases the difficulty and the time required for reading document sheets held in the cartridge.